One Sweet Sigh
by akanikunimitsu
Summary: He was the gentleman. He was the trickster. She was the blooming flower that came between them. He chose friendship over the one that he loved. She felt a void in her world when he left. Will yesterday's promises hold true? Will a middle school love survive the test of high school? The continuing saga of Niou, Mayumi and Yagyuu (The sequel to Just One Smile).
1. New Beginnings

**Chapter One: New Beginnings**

**DISCLAIMER: None of the PoT characters used in this fiction belongs to me, only the OCs and the plot. Enjoy!**

**-oOo-**

"I nominate Yagyuu Hiroshi-san as class representative." A female student declared as they were having their homeroom that morning.

Yagyuu's eyes widened but remained silent, so much for his plans of having a peaceful and quiet high school life.

"Any other nominations?" Sato–sensei asked the class.

"I move the nominations be closed." Oshitari stated, earning him a frown from Yagyuu.

"I second the motion." Another male student declared.

"Iiyo, Yagyuu-kun, you are now the class representative." Sato-sensei declared.

The class was in uproar, everyone knew Yagyuu was definitely the man for the job.

Yagyuu sighed and adjusted his glasses, he thought, maybe, it could also be good, to have more things to work with, it'll keep his mind from drifting to Kanagawa in the middle of the day. Being class representative meant paper work, and paper work kept his brain busy, which means he won't be idly thinking about a certain purple haired girl that he left in the loving arms of his best friend. So yes, Yagyuu decided being elected the class representative was indeed a good thing.

"Sensei." Yaguu raised his hand.

"Hai, nande Yagyuu-kun?" Sato-sensei asked the boy.

"I nominate Oishi Shuichiro-kun to be the vice president." Yagyuu declared.

"Nani!" Oishi reacted in surprise.

"I move the nomination to be closed!" Oshitari again declared.

"I second that motion." The girl who nominated Yagyuu shouted from the front.

"Nani!" Oishi was whipping his head from here to there; he couldn't believe he was being dragged into this.

"Iiyo, Oishi-kun, you will be Yagyuu-kun's vice president. Are there any objection?" Sato-sensei asked the class.

"No objections!" The class said in unison, including Yagyuu, because he really wanted to drag Oishi into this, Yagyuu was thinking, if he was going to be burdened with as much, might as well do the job with someone he believes he can trust and depend on, and Oishi was definitely the man for the job.

"Sa, might as well, Sensei!" Oshitari raised his hand.

"Hai, Oshitari-kun?"

"I nominate myself as secretary!" Oshitari declared.

"E?" Yagyuu and Oishi looked at the bluenette from Hyotei with baffled faces.

"Nani? I got you two into this mess, might as well join you." Oshitari snorted.

"Hai, any other nominations?" Sato-sensei asked the class.

"None! Oshitari-kun it is!" The class declared.

"See, they like me." Oshitari said to the Ginger-head and the Egghead.

Yagyuu simply adjusted his glasses with a smirk on his face.

Oishi was smiling funny thinking if Tezuka was in his place, he would probably be reaching for a bottle of aspirin right about now.

-oOo-

"Niou, have you completed the form yet?" Yanagi asked the silverette who was playing with his rat's tail while drumming on the table with his pen.

"E?" he replied, obviously not paying attention to their homeroom earlier.

Yanagi pinched the bridge of his nose, "Niou, did you not hear Fujioka-sensei this morning? We need to fill up these data sheets and submit them today at lunch." Yanagi patiently explained.

"Oh, yeah, that, here." Niou hands over the dully-accomplished data sheet to the master who examined the piece of paper carefully.

"You forgot to sign it at the end Niou." Yanagi pointed out the empty space at the end of the paper.

Niou quietly scribbles his signature on the paper then went back to playing with his rat's tail and drumming on the table while he stared out the window.

"Is something bothering you Niou?" Yanagi asked the boy as he placed the piece of paper with the rest of the pile.

"You know, I bet Yagyuu was elected class representative too." Niou declared, not really looking at Yanagi.

"I'm sure he was, after all, it's Yagyuu, I won't be surprised if he gets elected as Council President at his new school." Yanagi said before grabbing his bag, "Come on, I'll just hand this over to Fujioka-sensei then we can go meet the rest at the canteen."

"Right." Niou dropped his note on his bag and zip it up, not bothering to arrange it properly.

-oOo-

Mayumi has been staring at her desk for quite some time now, and unknown to her, Marui and Yukimura has been staring at her staring at her desk just as long. She gives of a desperate sigh and stretched her arms on the desk before she slump her face in between them.

"Did you and Niou have a fight?" Marui asked, no longer able to hold himself.

Yukimura glared at the boy, he wasn't really planning to ask, because his cousin would normally tell him her problems spontaneously, but thanks to the bubble gum chewing tennis player, she might as well deny any problem there ever was.

"E? Oh, Marui-kun, Seiichi, how long have you been there?" Mayumi asked the two.

"Long enough to know that you have something in your mind that bothers you enough to make you stare at your desk blankly for almost half the last period." Yukimura replied.

"Betsuni, I just feel like high school is so empty." Mayumi reasoned out.

"Empty? High school rocks!" Marui said making signs with his hands.

"For you maybe, Marui-kun, but not for me." Mayumi slumped back on her desk.

"What's up with you?" Yukimura asked a bit irritated.

"I'm in high school, and it seems, I'm still invisible." Mayumi reasoned out quite incomprehensible because her head was still slumped on her desk.

"Did you understand a single word that she said, because the only thing I understood was 'iminhiskuanitsimimbible'?" Marui told his former buchou.

"Can you just go get us seats in the cafeteria Marui?" Yukimura shooed the boy.

"Gladly!" Marui ran off, he was not very good with dealing with girl problems, being as he was still pretty much very bitter about Niou being the only one with a girlfriend in the group, more so, the girlfriend was not only Yukimura's cousin, but is now his classmate.

"Why do you feel invisible when you're the only girl that Niou sees? As in literally, Niou walks around like a deaf person totally ignoring every girl that comes up to him to talk." Yukimura told the girl.

"I don't know." Mayumi raises her head and supports her chin with both her hands.

Yukimura stared at the girl, there was something he wanted to ask, but it was better that he didn't ask it, to prevent things from getting complicated.

"Maybe I'm just hungry?" Mayumi asked the boy.

"Maybe you are, come on let's go eat lunch, Marui has probably gotten us seats at the cafeteria." Yukimura pulled on the girl's hand.

Just as they were walking out the door, they saw Jackal and Sanada walking out of their classroom.

"Sanada, Jackal! Are you eating lunch with us today?" Yukimura called on the two.

"Hai, we just need to submit these data sheets to Kato-sensei." Jackal responded for both of them before they both walked off towards the teacher's lounge.

"I guess that means Sanada and Jackal were elected as class representative and vice in their class." Yukimura told the girl as they watched the two walk away.

"Yeah." Mayumi stared at the two boy's back thinking, _Class representative, which would have been Yagyuu-kun's job if he was still here._ It felt incomplete, seeing only Sanada and Jackal walking out of section A's class, she was so used to seeing three people walking out of there, then heading to tennis practice, but now there was only two.

"Let's go Mayumi?" Yukimura asked the girl who was still following the two with her eyes.

"Ano, excuse me." A girl appeared behind Mayumi and Yukimura.

"Hai?" Mayumi turned her head to the voice.

"Ano, you're Suzuki Mayumi-kun aren't you?" the girl asked.

"Ah, hai, nande?" she asked back.

"Iie, betsuni. I was really touched with what you said when you introduced yourself in class the other day." The girl timidly said.

Mayumi and Yukimura looked at each other, they were both confused with what the girl had just revealed, simply because Mayumi's self-introduction that day went something like 'Suzuki Mayumi desu, I was a wallflower in middle school, hope I won't be in high school.'

"You see Suzuki-kun, like you, I was pretty much ignored in middle school, like an—." The girl said before Mayumi continued what she was saying.

"Invisible soul that flies here and there without anyone noticing?" Mayumi ended the sentence for the girl.

"Hai." The girl affirmed.

"I know exactly how you feel." Mayumi declared.

"Hai. Ah, Hirohito Shizuka desu." The girl introduced herself.

"Ah, you know my cousin Yukimura Seiichi right?" Mayumi pointed at the bluenette standing next to her.

"H-Hai." The girl the nodded and bowed her head low, probably to hide the blush that was covering her whole face at that moment.

"Well, I guess I'll be leaving you two then." Yukimura smiled at the timid girl who approached them before pulling her cousin closer and whispering, "Here's your chance to make a friend, don't blow it."

"I won't, demo, I think she has a crush on you." Mayumi whispered back.

"Shut up." Yukimura whispered before turning around to face the other girl, "Eto, Hirohito-san I'll be going on ahead, I'll see you in class this afternoon." Then Yukimura left to join the rest of the tennis club in the cafeteria.

"Do you have a bento Hirohito-san?" Mayumi asked the girl.

"Ah, hai."

"Do you want to eat on the roof top?" Mayumi offered the girl.

The other girl's eyes sparkled, "H-hai."

"Let's go?" Mayumi nodded ad led the girl to the rooftop to eat their bento together.

-oOo-

"Are you two really not going to join any club?" Oshitari nagged his newly found best friends.

"Iie." The two replied while shaking their heads.

"And that is your final decision?" Oshitari confirmed.

"Hai." The two said together.

"Iiyo, suite your selves." Oshitari turned and began to walk towards a booth.

"Where are you going Oshitari?" Oishi asked the boy.

"I'm signing up for the theatre club." Oshitari replied, "Want to join me?"

"The theater club?" Yagyuu asked unable to believe what he just heard.

"I figured a Science High School would suck at sports right? I mean, we're like a collection of nerds and geeks here." Oshitari concluded.

"What a very interesting conclusion Oshitari." Oishi sarcastically replied.

"And what lead you to this conclusion Oshitari-kun?" Yagyuu asked in amusement.

"So, do you want to prove me wrong?" Oshitari provoked the two, "Let's sign up for the tennis club then."

Oishi and Yagyuu looked at each other.

"You know, you could have thought of a better plan Oshitari." Oishi reacted first.

"Like a better plan that could lure us in, not like that lame excuse that you just gave." Yagyuu added.

"Come on!" Oshitari was beginning to get frustrated.

"If you want to join the tennis club, just go on and sign up." Yagyuu told the boy.

"You don't have to wait for us to sign up." Oishi added.

Oshitari stared at the two unmovable mountains standing in front of him, "Oishi."

"Hai?"

"I thought Tezuka was the stubborn one in Seigaku. And Yagyuu, I thought Sanada was the stubborn one in Rikkai. Oh, how wrong was I!" Oshitari dramatically told the two.

Yagyuu's brows raised, he wanted to say something but he opted not to, after all, it would be ungentleman of him if he did. But Oishi, who was the gentle mother figure of Seigaku, couldn't resist the opportunity to whack the former Hyotei player, who did get Yagyuu and him into trouble that morning during class election.

"I thought Atobe was the flashy one in Hyotei, and I thought Mukahi was the brat, and let's not mention Shishido was the drama queen. How wrong was I?" Oishi snapped back at the bluenette.

Oshitari's facial muscles began twitching; he could feel a vein pop somewhere in his head.

"Iiyo, lets no argue. Oshitari-kun if you want to join a club go ahead, Oishi-kun and I are just not in the mood to do so." Yagyuu explained.

"How about the Biology Club? The Physics Club? Chemistry Club? Please, I'm begging you, any club!" Oshitari was desperate.

"Maybe in the second year." Yagyuu patted the boy's shoulder then turned to walk away, Oishi following the boy immediately.

"Fine!" Oshitari declared in defeat, "Let's all be bums together." He followed the two to walk out of the school.

-oOo-

"Niou, hit the ball a little harder!" the tennis club buchou shouted at the silverette.

"What's up with Niou?" Marui asked the rest of the group.

"He's been that way the whole day, he's mentioned Yagyuu a few times today." Yanagi said as he opened his notebook.

"Maybe he misses Yagyuu." Jackal offered as an explanation.

"Niou is a flexible player, he can plan both singles and doubles efficiently, however, his dynamics with Yagyuu can never be compared by any other doubles partner." Sanada declared his observation.

"Yukimura, what's up with Niou?" the tennis club buchou asked the former middle school buchou.

"He's just a little out of it today Buchou, Niou's is definitely better than this." Yukimura defended his former regular.

"Well, tell him to shape up, the high school tennis scene is nothing compared to the middle school one." The high school buchou smugly said earning him a glare from the former middle school regulars.

"Can I chop him to pieces and mix him in a cake and dump him with so much sugar even an ant would get diabetes from eating him?" Marui said itching to get his hands on the tennis club buchou.

"Marui, yamero, let him say what he wants, we'll have our time." Sanada stopped the serve-and-volley player who was getting ready to jump on the older tennis player.

"Did they even win the high school Nationals last year?" Jackal asked.

"Hai, then won the Nationals by a large margin of four games to one, and the one game that they lost was a close fight even a tie break at 88-86." Yanagi explained.

"Iiyo, so they're good, but we're better." Marui reacted.

"But we lost our Nationals." Yukimura reminded the group.

"Cheesecakes, we were in a very emotional situation at that time." Marui defended.

"It's not an excuse Marui, we lost, and that's what's stamped on our heads. To the senpai-tachi, we failed them, we failed to take Rikkai to its third consecutive Nationals title." Sanada rebuted.

"Gomen." Niou apologized as he walked over to the group after getting the best of their buchou's sermon.

"Masaharu, are you sick or something?" Marui asked the silverette.

"I'll take the or something part." Niou replied.

"What is it really?" Sanada asked.

"I can't freaking concentrate!" Niou replied and threw the towel he was holding to the ground. Making the rest of the team jump a little, except Sanada and Yukimura of course.

"Does Yagyuu not being here have something to do with this?" Yukimura asked, not looking at the boy.

"Whatever." Niou walks away to the faucet to get a drink.

"He misses Yagyuu." Jackal declared.

"Miss him? Oh, iie, iie, Jackal, I think Niou's in-love with him!" Marui commented as a joke before he felt a tennis racket hit him on the head. "Itte!"

"I heard that." Niou said after throwing the tennis racket at Marui. "How would you feel if Jackal suddenly decides he was transferring school then goes ahead and leave you?" Niou asked the boy.

"Well—," Marui thought for a while then suddenly hugged Jackal, "Jackal don't you even dare!"

"Get off me Marui." Jackal said struggling to get Marui off him.

"I think I made my point." Niou declared.

-oOo-

Yagyuu kept staring out the train's window that afternoon, it was almost an hour from Kanagawa to his new school in Tokyo, but if it meant getting into the finest Medical School after, he was going to bear it. No matter how much to eat lunch with his best friend and former doubles partner, or how much he wanted to see a certain blue-eyed purple-haired girl.

"Yagyuu, I'm getting off in this station, I'll see you in school tomorrow." Oishi told him as he was getting off the train.

"Aa, see you tomorrow Oishi-kun."

He went back to thinking, how many times has he been repeating this in his head, did he make the right decision to leave Rikkai? Rikkai did have a Science division that was just next door to the regular high school. But he never even considered writing it down as an option. For the first time in his life, Yagyuu felt, he was running away from something, he felt so scared of facing the truth that he chose to turn away.

-oOo-

"How was your day?" Mayumi asked the slouched boy walking beside her.

"Terrible."

"Nande?"

Niou sighed, he didn't want to be a burden to Mayumi, but he was really feeling down that day, it seemed his first week in high school was going haywire on him.

"Do you want to go eat ice cream?" Mayumi offered to cheer up the boy.

"I'm not Marui." Niou cynically replied.

Mayumi chuckled before grabbing Niou's hands, "Let's go eat chocolate ice cream, I read somewhere that endorphins make people happy, and chocolates are a source of endorphins."

"What has dolphins have to do with ice cream?" Niou asked confused, obviously not listening carefully to what his girlfriend was saying.

"Endorphins not dolphins." Mayumi corrected with a smile.

Niou smiled and began to laugh at himself for a silly mistake, "Iiyo, let's go eat chocolate endorphins."

Mayumi laughed knowing Niou was purposely mixing up the words.

"How about you, how was your day?" Niou then asked the girl as they walked towards the nearest ice cream shop.

"I made a friend today." Mayumi happily declared.

"Hontouni?" Niou felt happy with the news.

"Hmn. She's in my class, we ate lunch together." Mayumi explained.

"So that's why you didn't come eat with us today." Niou confirmed.

"Hai. Gomen ne Niou-kun." She apologized for not making it for lunch.

"Daijabou, I'm glad that you made a friend. Demo, is your new friend a good girl? I don't want you hanging out with the sloppy girls who wears too much make up." Niou warned the girl.

"Like I would."

There was a brief moment of chuckling then silent between them, then a long solemn sigh.

"I miss Yagyuu." Niou suddenly blurted out.

Mayumi who Niou scolded for talking about Yagyuu on the first day of school was surprised to hear him admit that he missed his best friend.

"Rikkai High feels incomplete without him." Niou continued.

"Let's just hope he's happy in his new school. He probably is doing his best, like he always does." Mayumi tried to comfort Niou.

"Hai. Knowing Yagyuu, he's probably taking that school by storm with his gentleman powers." Niou joked.

Mayumi chuckled thinking how Yagyuu would look based on Niou's description, "He's probably happy, he's pursuing his dream after all."

"I guess we need to be happy too huh?" Niou tightened his hold on the girl's hand.

"Hmn." Mayumi agreed, but on the back of her mind, she was missing Yagyuu too.

**-oOo-**

**Confused? Don't be. If you haven't read Just One Smile, it'll be difficult to follow on this story. To those who've read the other fic, hoping for a feedback from you, continuing from the original plot, in a new setting with different circumstances.**


	2. A New Found Love

**Chapter Two: A New Found Love**

**Standard Disclaimer Applies**

**-oOo-**

Mayumi was walking down the halls with a smile on her lips, she had a really good morning, and for some reason, she doesn't think anything can happen today that can ruin her day. But then again, that was something that she thought she could do.

"Ohayou Ma-chan!" Shizuka greeted as she was about to bump into her on her way to class.

"Ohayou Shi-chan, you came in early today." Mayumi greeted back.

"Hai, I left my Classical Japanese book on my desk yesterday so I had to come in early to read on the assignment. You always come in early because of Niou-kun right?"

"Hai, we walk to school together in the mornings so I come in early with him for morning practice—." Mayumi was still explaining when she was slammed into the wall. "Itai!"

"Ma-chan!"

"You're Suzuki right?" A girl with long shiny black hair asked.

"H-Hai." Mayumi timidly answered.

"Hmm, nothing special I see." The girl said before walking away, without even apologizing for slamming her into the wall.

"Itai, what was that about?" Mayumi asked in a whisper as Shizuka was helping her get back on her feet.

"That's Kobayashi-senpai, she's a junior, she went to Rikkai Middle School too, everyone knows she's always had her eyes on Niou-kun. I heard rumours that she and Niou-kun were close friends when they were younger, I'm not sure what happened but when Kobayashi-senpai entered Middle School she and Niou-kun had a falling-out." Shizuka explained as she and Mayumi started walking back to their classroom.

"Niou never mentioned her to me before." Mayumi stated.

"It must have been a pretty bad falling-out between them; I hear other senpai-tachi who says that Niou-kun and Kobayashi-senpai were really best friends and inseparable in Elementary." Shizuka furthered.

Mayumi turned her head towards the direction where the older girl walked off to then sighed.

"Maybe Niou-kun really wanted to forget about her, that's why he hasn't told you anything about Kobayashi-senpai." Shizuka explained.

"Maybe." Mayumi agreed half-heartedly, she wanted to know exactly, what was Niou's reason for not even mentioning to her about his childhood best friend.

-oOo-

"So, the three of us are going to this really nice pasta place that Atobe always invites us to this afternoon." Oshitari declared to the other two as first period homeroom ended.

"When did we ever agree to such a thing?" Oishi asked the blue-haired tensai.

"I don't like Italian food." Yagyuu added.

"Come on, I already made reservations." Oshitari complained.

"You should have asked us first before you made the reservations." Oishi retorted.

"Oshitari-kun, we need to finish a lot of paper work, and—." Yagyuu was saying before he was cut off by the other bespectacled boy.

"The pasta place is the perfect place to dine and work at the same time. That's where I and Atobe always do strategic planning for Hyotei."

"Exactly how much planning did you get done compared to how much eating?" Oishi asked, he was not in a particularly good mood to go out that day and Oshitari was not being cooperative.

"Don't worry about the expense, this one's on me." Oshitari said ignoring Oishi's question.

"I already said I don't like Italian food." Yagyuu repeated.

"So, think of anything you want to eat, don't hesitate because this is my treat." Oshitari declared before walking over to his seat before their Math teacher walked in.

"Was he even listening to a single word we said?" Yagyuu asked Oishi who simply raised his shoulders before also returning to his seat.

-oOo-

"Back to basic training huh?" Marui complained as he stretched his arms upward.

"We're ichnen, we don't have a choice, we're back to ball fetching, net folding and the basics." Jackal reminded,

"But we were regulars from Rikkai Middle School." Marui continued to complain.

"Bunta, may I remind you that this is high school." Niou butted in because he was getting irritated with Marui's complaining.

"Yeah, I know, demo, why do Yukimura, Yanagi and Sanada get special treatment?" Marui complained.

"You didn't exactly beat the buchou and fukubuchou in a ranking match Marui, so not unless you plan on dyeing your hair blue and changing your name to Yukimura then you don't have a right to complain." Niou retorted.

"Whatever! I wanna play." Marui continued to complain.

"So win in the next ranking matches." Jackal advised.

"Says the one who only won two out of six games against the senpai-tachi." Marui retorted.

Jackal's head dropped in defeat, "Please don't remind me about that."

"Will the two of you just stop it already?" Niou said as he picked up a ball that rolled their way.

"Still bitter I see. Well, if you hit that last ball in, you would have made it to the regulars 'Niou Masaharu who was one win away from being a regular instead of a ball picker'." Marui teased the silverette who lost his last game at the ranking matches costing him his spot as a potential regular player.

"Shut up pig!"

"How many times do I have to tell you I am not a pig?" Marui protested.

"Iiyo, fattie." Niou taunted.

"Mou!"

"Pipe down you two, Sanada's already glaring this way." Jackal warned them.

Niou and Marui stuck out their tongue at each other like elementary kids fighting.

"By the way Niou, have you talked to Kobayashi-senpai yet?" Jackal asked the silverette making the other boy frown.

"I am going to pick up balls at the other court." Niou said ignoring Jackal's question.

"Do you think Suzuki-kun will have problems with Kobayashi-senpai?" Marui asked the half-Brazilian.

"I hope not, we failed to realize this back in Middle School. I guess Niou failed to project on this as well." Jackal replied.

"Well, Niou better do something about it, or else, Suzuki will suffer the consequences of his actions in the past." Marui concluded.

-oOo-

"Konnichiwa, you're Yagyuu-san from class A right? Here are the papers that we need to have our classmates fill up, these has to be submitted in three days to the Council for filling." A girl with purple hair said as she handed over a pile of papers to Yagyuu after council meeting ended for that day.

"Suzuki-kun?" Yagyuu almost whispered as he stared at the girl whom he saw for the first time.

"E? Iie. Sasaki Riko desu, the class representative for section B." the girl replied.

"Ah, gomennasai." Yagyuu bowed before receiving the papers from the girl.

"Iiyo." The girl handed over the pile.

"Yo! Yagyuu, let's go." Oshitari called the boy from the door.

"Coming. Excuse me." Yagyuu bowed again before heading off.

"Who were you talking to?" Oishi asked as he handed Yagyuu's bag over.

"Ah, Sasaki-san from class B, she gave these papers that the class needs to fill up." Yagyuu explained.

"She's sugoi kawaii, so are you two going out?" Oshitari asked.

"E? I was just talking to her about these papers, and this is the first time we've even met." Yagyuu replied with a tint of pink on his cheeks.

"So, you don't mind if I ask her out right?" Oshitari asked with a sly smile.

"Baka!" Oishi snapped at the boy.

"Oshitari-kun, we've only been in high school for less than two weeks and you're already thinking of girls." Yagyuu stated as he was placing the pile of papers into his bag.

"Nani? Don't you two think about girls?" Oshitari asked in disbelief.

"Iie." Oishi quickly replied.

Yagyuu cleared his throat.

"Aha! So Yagyuu thinks about girls!" Oshitari concluded when the other boy didn't reply.

"Do you think about girls and dating Yagyuu?" Oishi confirmed feeling that he was abnormal or something for feeling differently.

"Iie." Yagyuu replied hesitantly.

"You said that with a hesitant tone, which means you're lying." Oshitari concluded.

"I am not." Yagyuu defended.

"Then what's the real deal?" Oishi confirmed.

"I don't think about girls." Yagyuu denied.

"Are you gay?" Oshitari asked in surprise.

"Iie!" Yaguu vehemently denied.

"Did you leave someone in Kanagawa?" Oishi asked, feeling that Yagyuu was hiding something from them.

"Not really leave—." Yagyuu was about to explain before he was cut off by the overly excited Oshitari.

"You have a girlfriend back in Rikkai don't you?" Oshitari asked.

"I don't." Yagyuu denied.

"Then what?" Oshitari asked impatiently.

"There was this girl, which I liked." Yagyuu started.

"Liked? That's past tense. Does that mean you don't like her anymore?" Oshitari confirmed.

"Iie."

"Which means you still like her?" Oishi joined in.

"Hai."

"Then what's the problem?" Oshitari asked irately.

"She has a boyfriend." Yagyuu plainly answered.

"Oh?" Oshitari and Oishi said in unison.

There was silence between them for a while before Yagyuu broke the silence.

"Please don't worry about me. I don't mind you asking." Yagyuu assured the two.

"So, tell us the story." Oshitari replied.

"Oshitari." Oishi nudged on the taller boy to stop talking.

"Iiyo, I'll tell you. There was a girl that I liked back in Rikkai. She was Yukimura-kun's cousin." Yagyuu began.

"Yukimura's cousin?" Oshitari and Oishi said in surprise.

"Hai. She was in the same year, but she didn't play tennis." Yagyuu continued.

"And here I was thinking that tennis runs in the family." Oshitari said disappointed to know that Yukimura's cousin didn't play tennis.

"Apparently not." Oishi patted the bluenette's shoulder.

"She was simple, quiet, timid, and Niou-kun always bullied her with his pranks." Yagyuu said with a smile.

"So she's the trickster's favourite huh?" Oshitari said.

Yagyuu nodded before continuing, "I always helped her clean off whatever goo Niou-kun would prank her with. At first I thought it was just that I pitied her, by the time I realized I like her it was too late."

"Why was it too late?" Oishi asked.

"Because someone else had realized that he liked her too." Yagyuu replied with a sad voice.

"And you just gave up on her that easy?" Oshitari asked disappointed.

"Iie, I didn't."

"She chose the other guy?" Oishi confirmed.

Yagyuu nodded again before saying anything more, "He loves her very much, that I am sure of."

"How sure are you?" Oshitari asked.

"Because she chose my best friend over me, that's why I'm sure he loved her very much." Yagyuu replied just as he inserted the train ticket into the slot.

"Oh?" Oshitari and Oishi said before silence again filled them.

The train ride home was very quiet; no one said anything, not even a sigh. That was until just before Oshitari was about to get off the train.

"Chotto matte! Isn't Niou-kun your best friend?" Oshitari suddenly realized.

"Hai, he is." Yagyuu affirmed.

"Then—." Oishi was about to conclude.

"You owe us more about this Yagyuu; you better tell us the complete story tomorrow." Oshitari shouted as he got off the train.

"He's a very excited one isn't he?" Yagyuu told Oishi, referring to the hyperactive Oshitari.

"Hai." Oishi agreed.

-oOo-

It was very early in the morning and there was no one in the tennis court when Yukimura started running his laps. It was rather peaceful and calming, until someone showed up and disturbed the demigod's rather happy morning.

"You're very early." Sanada said as he began running alongside his best friend.

"Hmn. I like to get an early start." Yukimura replied.

"So have you heard?" Sanada asked the boy.

"If you're referring to Kobayashi-senpai and Mayumi's encounter the other day, hai, I've heard." Yukimura replied with an angered face.

"And what are we doing about this?" Sanada asked.

"Nothing."

Sanada stopped running and grabbed Yukimura's arm to stop the other boy from running as well, "Nani?"

"This is not our place to mess with Genechiro. This time, it's all on Niou's hands." Yukimura plainly stated then went back to running.

Sanada was left standing there with a confused look on his face, he so wanted to snap Yukimura's neck for allowing his cousin to fall trap to a very messy dispute and decide to step aside and leave things in Niou's hands, not that he didn't trust Niou would be able to handle it.

-oOo-

"She's looking at me again." Mayumi whispered as she and Shizuka were doing homework in the library.

"Just avoid eye contact." Shizuka advised.

"What did I ever do to her?" Mayumi complained s she tried hard to focus on doing her homework.

"Honestly, I think it has something to do with Niou-kun."

"I didn't even know about her until the other day when she slammed me into the wall." Mayumi argued in a low voice.

"Did you tell Niou-kun about that?"

"Iie."

"Nani? Demo, you should have told him something. After all, Kobayashi-senpai was his childhood best friend." Shizuka debated.

"I didn't want to worry him."

"That is not reason enough, he should know about this. Look, Kobayashi-senpai is almost like stalking you, lingering where you are. I heard some girls talking in the comfort room earlier; Kobayashi-senpai never spends time in the library unless it's mandatory paper work that the sensei wants submitted within the day. She always leaves school after the last period and hangs out with a group of friends, like a gang of some sort. That's why everyone is talking about you; they say you're the new prey that she's hunting down." Shizuka explained.

Mayumi glanced secretly towards the older girl's direction, "She scares me."

"That's why you have to tell Niou-kun that she's harassing you." Shizuka advised.

"Hey, ready to go?" Niou asked the girl as he appeared after tennis practice was over.

"Aa, let me just arrange my stuffs." Mayumi began gathering her notes.

"Oi." Niou greeted Shizuka.

"Konnichiwa Niou-kun." Shizuka greeted back.

"Do you want to walk with us home Shi-chan?" Mayumi asked her newfound friend.

"Iie, I'll just finish this here, I need to do the laundry when I get home so I might as well complete this before leaving for home." Shizuka respectfully turned down the offer.

"Iiyo, I'll see tomorrow then." Mayumi waved at the girl.

"Ja ne Hirohito." Niou nodded before turning his back.

Shizuka mouthed out to Mayumi 'Tell him about her' after the boy had turn his back, and Mayumi simple nodded.

A few minutes after Niou and Mayumi had left Shizuka, a shadow reflected on the table where the girl was seating and she felt heavy hands on her shoulder squeezing it tightly. "Kimi, tell you're girl-friend, to enjoy every last minute she has with my Masaharu, because soon enough, I'm taking him back." The older girl whispered in her ears before letting go of her shoulder and walking out of the library leaving the pained Shizuka massaging her shoulder and staring at the older girl's back in bitter retort.

-oOo-

"Yagyuu, wait up." Oishi called as the other boy was already walking out of the gates of their school.

"Oishi-kun, I thought you and Oshitari-kun were going to buy some stuffs?" Yagyuu confirmed.

"We were supposed to, demo, Oshitari got caught up talking to a girl and he decided to go for ice cream or something with the girl instead of buying the stuffs we need for the project, so I guess I'll have to buy them on my own." Oishi explained.

"Sou ka." Yagyuu adjusted his glasses.

"Ano, Yagyuu, do you want to go buy the stuffs with me, or have you purchased yours already?"

"Actually, I still need a few things; I think I'll go buy the items with you Oishi-kun." Yagyuu agreed.

"Hontou? That's great, I've never really went out buying stuffs for a project alone, I usually go with Tezuka or Fuji when buying school related items." Oishi exclaimed happily.

"Tezuka-kun and Fuji-kun, not with Kikumaru-kun?" Yagyuu wondered.

"Hai, Eiji and I are really good friends and doubles partners, demo, my best friends are actually Tezuka and Fuji, well, Tezuka mainly, since Tezuka and Fuji and also close so I kind of ended up hanging around with Fuji as well." Oishi furthered.

"I see."

"How about you Yagyuu, is Niou really your best friend?" Oishi asked to start small talk, after all, they've only began hanging out and he doesn't really know much about Yagyuu.

"Hai. Niou-kun and I also hang out even when there's no tennis practice." Yagyuu confirmed.

"No wonder you too are really good at doubles." Oishi concluded.

"Well, we can't activate synchro at will like you and Kikumaru, but we're a pretty decent doubles pair." Yagyuu humbly stated.

"Are you kidding me? You're from Rikkai, we're defeat is unforgivable." Oishi said before realizing what he just stated. "Gomen."

"It's alright, Seigaku was really strong, and we couldn't have lost to anyone better than you guys." Yagyuu said, accepting defeat. "After all, if we never encountered you in the tournament, I might not have a friend to walk with today." Yagyuu added.

Oishi felt shy with what the other boy said and scratched his head. "But you are really good Yagyuu."

Awkward silence fell on them until they reached the bookstore and began picking up the stuffs they needed for their project.

"Ano, Yagyuu, can I ask you something?" Oishi hesitantly asked as they stood in line to pay.

"Hmn."

"What's her name?"

Yagyuu looked at Oishi, thinking, then answered his question, "Her name is Suzuki-kun."

"Aa, and her first name?"

"Mayumi." Yagyuu replied in almost a whisper.

"But you call her Suzuki-kun right?" Oishi confirmed.

"Hai."

"You're a very formal person and very respectful so I expected as much." Oishi concluded as he began counting his money to pay.

"Do you have someone that you left in Seigaku?" Yagyuu asked the egghead.

"Iie, except my tennis club friends, I have no one." Oishi denied.

Yagyuu nodded his head as he paid for the stuffs that he bought.

"It must be really difficult for you." Oishi stated as they were walking out of the bookstore.

"Difficult?"

"Because the girl you like is your best friend's girlfriend." Oishi expounded.

"As long as she's happy, I'll be happy." Yagyuu stated.

"Yagyuu, forgive me for asking, you must not want to talk about her." Oishi apologized.

"Iie, it's okay, you deserve to know, you're my friend. Besides, it must be difficult for you too, now that Tezuka-kun is studying in Germany, and Fuji-kun is in Seigaku, you must make new friends, like me." Yagyuu assured the boy.

"Hmn." Oishi agreed as they walked to the train station.

-oOo-

"Stay away from her." Niou stated in a cold firm voice as the tall girl walked pass him.

"So you finally decide to talk to me." Kobayashi faced the boy.

"Stay away from Suzuki." Niou stared at the girl's eyes.

"So the little princess already told her knight and shining armour?" Kobayashi taunted.

"She hasn't told me anything. But knowing Suzuki, she never would, she doesn't like worrying me. But knowing you, I know you're already messing with her." Niou stated.

"You know me so well Masaharu." The girl stepped forward reaching for Niou's face.

"Don't touch me!" Niou stepped backwards.

"Nande? Didn't you like to hold hands with me back in Elementary?" Kobayashi teased some more.

"That was before you became the biggest slut." Niou retorted.

"I'm hurt." The girl pretended to hold her heart.

"You hurt me first." Niou countered before walking away.

"Don't forget who your first kiss was Masaharu." The girl threatened.

"I've long forgotten." Niou answered before finally walking away.

-oOo-

"You what?" Oishi and Yagyuu practically screamed at Oshitari.

"I've set a group date for us this Saturday." Oshitari repeated.

"We never asked you to do that." Oishi said in anger almost ready to choke the taller boy for doing such.

"I don't go on group dates Oshitari-kun." Yagyuu argued.

"You do now." Oshitari stubbornly replied.

"Let me rephrase that, I don't, nor will I ever go on group dates Oshitari-kun." Yagyuu replied.

"I invited Sasaki-san to the group date." Oshitari commented.

"Who?" Oishi asked, having no idea who the taller boy was referring to.

"The class representative for section B." Yagyuu answered Oishi's question.

"You remembered her, how sweet." Oshitari teased.

"Of course I remember her, I see her every council meeting." Yagyuu retorted.

"So, you're going right?" Oshitari asked with bright eyes.

"Iie." Yagyuu replied coldly.

"But I told her you wanted her to come and were just too shy to ask!" Oshitari argued.

"Well then, I guess you're just going to explain to her that you lied to her and that I won't be going on that date." Yagyuu irately answered.

"K-Konnichiwa, Yagyuu-san." A female voice greeted.

"Sasaki-san." Yagyuu said surprised by the girl's appearance.

"I'm looking forwards to Saturday." The girl said with a smile before walking away.

"Now, now, Yagyuu-san you don't want to disappoint such a sweet kind girl's expectations would you?" Oshitari told the boy as he patted his shoulder.

"You're sly Oshitari." Oishi commented.

"Besides, aren't you called 'the gentleman', now, now, would a gentleman elude a date with such a cute girl." Oshitari continued to taunt.

"Oshitari-kun, I might just begin to hate you all together." Yagyuu faced the boy with a serious face that matches even that of Sanada or Tezuka.

"How scary." Oshitari provoked.

"Fine, but don't expect anything from me, because I am only going to satisfy your curiosity. I have no interest in Sasaki-san." Yagyuu firmly replied.

"You're going?" Oishi asked in disbelief.

"He's just living up to his nickname." Oshitari said as he placed his arms on Oishi's shoulder like they were such good friend.

"Doesn't mean I'm going too." Oishi argued.

"Oh, you're going Oishi-kun, because if Oshitari-kun is dragging me into this, I'm dragging you with me." Yagyuu argued.

"Nani!" Oishi said wide-eyed.

"And besides, I told Hirohito-san you invited her to the date as well." Oshitari added.

"Who?" Oishi asked.

"Sasaki's best friend, they're both from section B." Oshitari answered before walking away to chase after some girl.

"I don't even know who Hirohito-san is, how can I invite her out?" Oishi complained to Oshitari's back, but he was ignored.

"He's really pushy isn't he?" Yagyuu stated as the baffled Oishi was still staring at Oshitari's back.

"Yagyuu, are you seriously going?" Oishi asked the boy.

"I honestly don't want to, demo, I don't think I can tell Sasaki-san that Oshitari lied to her about me asking her out." Yagyuu explained.

"You still really like Suzuki-san don't you?" Oishi confirmed.

"When I first saw Sasaki-san, I accidentally called her Suzuki-kun." Yagyuu admitted.

"Nande?"

"Because Suzuki-kun also has purple hair and blue eyes, but she's shorter than Sasaki-san, and her hair was cut short too." Yagyuu explained.

"I see." Oishi nodded.

"But it would be unfair to date her just because she reminded me of Suzuki-kun." Yagyuu continued.

"Hai, I agree. So how are you going to get out of this?" Oishi asked.

"I have no idea." Yagyuu admitted.

**-oOo-**

**Sorry for the delayed update, I've been busy, and will be really busy, so please forgive me if I don't update any of my stories soon enough.**


	3. Recollection of the Past

**Chapter 3: Recollection of the Past**

**Standard Disclaimer Applies**

**-oOo-**

Yagyuu stared as a server tripped over and the left over glasses of parfait that she was holding in her tray spilled on a couple of middle school girl sitting nearby, his memory drifting away with the scene.

"_Daijabou desu ka?"_

"_Ah, hai, daijabou desu."_

"_Here, you can use this to wipe off that goo."_

"_Ah, iie, your handkerchief will get dirty and it's so early in the morning."_

"_Daijabou, go ahead, it's better than staying so sticky from all that goo."_

"_Demo—."_

"_Use it, onegashimasu."_

"_A-arigato."_

"_Let me help you wash that off."_

"_A, I'm disturbing your morning already."_

"_Iie, daijabou, I don't see anyone else trying to help you, so please, let me help."_

"_You're too kind."_

"_Iie, just being me. By the way, Yagyuu Hiroshi desu, yoroshiku."_

"_Suzuki Mayumi desu, yoroshiku."_

"Oh, wow, poor kids." Sasaki commented as the middle school girls were wiping off the parfait off their faces and the server was apologizing profusely, while a bunch of high school boys were laughing about their successful prank of tripping the server over.

"I think the waitress is to be pitied as well." Oishi commented.

"Nande? It's not like it was the girls' fault that she tripped over and spilled the parfait on them?" Hirohito countered Oishi's statement.

"I agree with Hiro-chan, I think it's the waitress' fault." The third girl commented.

"If you observed it closer you would realize it was not the waitress' fault." Yagyuu countered, a bit irritated by the girls' lack of observational skills.

"Why do you say so Yagyuu-san?" Hirohito asked.

"Because those boys tripped her over." Yagyuu replied coldly.

Silence enveloped their table, one could feel the dangerous aura that Yagyuu was projecting out of irritation, and Oishi was being very quiet as well. Obviously, this group date was going nowhere, and the mastermind behind it had to do something.

"So, should we leave? I think this place is a bit cramp and—why not watch a movie?" Oshitari suggested to break the silence.

"I agree with Oshitari-kun. How about you Oishi-kun?" Hirohito tried to lure the former Seigaku mother hen to agree with her.

"I think not." Oishi quickly replied.

"Excuse me." Yagyuu stood up and walked away as his phone was ringing.

"You are such a bunch of kill joys." The third girl, who was Oshitari's date, commented with Oishi's disagreement.

"Maybe they're tired already." Sasaki commented, tried not to aggravate her friends.

"Riko-chan, stop siding with them, they invited us to this date after all." Hirohito argued.

"Actually—." Oishi was about to counter when Oshitari cut him off.

"What Oishi was about to say was that maybe the load of homework given to us is hindering us from truly enjoying this date, so maybe just one more stop before going home? What do you say girls?" Oshitari lied.

"And what do you suggest?" the third girl asked her date.

"How about we take pictures?" Oshitari suggested.

"Excuse me, but I need to leave." Yagyuu said as he returned from answering his phone call.

"E? You're leaving?" Hirohito reacted.

"Hai, that was Kimiko my sister, and she need me to come home quickly to help her with a project that she could not complete." Yagyuu replied before bowing, "I'm truly sorry."

"I think I'll be going with Yagyuu. Excuse me." Oishi stated before standing up and leaving the group behind.

"Chotto!" Oshitari tried to stop the two but was too late because the two had already exited the shop. "Gomennasai." Oshitari apologized to the three girls.

"Surely you don't intend to leave us too?" his date commented.

"Of course not." Oshitari offered his hand to the girl to help her stand up. "Where shall we all go next then?"

"I think I'll just go home." Hirohito disappointedly stated since she was expecting to spend more time with Oishi.

"M-Me too." Sasaki also commented and went on ahead.

Oshitari and his date were left there standing staring at the two girls' back as they both walked away.

"A-Ano, Yagyuu-san!" Sasaki called after the boy.

Yagyuu and Oishi turned to see the girl running after them.

"Sasaki-san?" Yagyuu replied.

"Ano, Yagyuu-san, gomen for the way my friends acted today." Sasaki bowed.

"It's not your fault, don't worry about it." Yagyuu assured the girl who was almost in tears.

"You must think we're such a bunch of brats; you too Oishi-san, hontou gomen." Sasaki said in a shaking voice.

"Don't worry about it Sasaki-san." Oishi replied assuringly.

"Hontouni, gomennasai." Sasaki bowed low before running away.

Yagyuu and Oishi followed her with their eyes.

"Poor girl, being grouped with Hirohito and that other girl, what's her name?" Oishi asked the bespectacled boy standing beside him.

"I can't remember either." Yagyuu replied still staring at Sasaki's back as she ran away.

"What is it that you remembered Yagyuu?" Oishi asked the boy noticing the look in Yagyuu's face.

"Huh?" Yagyuu turned his face to Oishi.

"I know you remembered something, you have that look in your face since a while ago, when the server accidentally spilled the left over parfaits on those middle school girls." Oishi commented.

"Oishi-kun, have you ever called someone by their name?" Yagyuu suddenly asked ignoring Oishi's prior question.

"E? Eiji, I guess." Oishi replied.

"Ah, Kikumaru-kun, he doesn't like being called Kikumaru right? That's why he wants people to call him by his name." Yagyuu confirmed.

"I really don't know, but he always introduces himself as Eiji." Oishi replied.

"I've never called anyone other than my sister by name." Yagyuu admitted.

"Really?" Oishi began thinking if he had called anyone by name except Eiji, and realized that the people from Seigaku, he also calls by their surnames.

"They say when you call someone by their name; it's a sign of closeness or intimacy. Maybe that was the reason why I was a bit surprised that you call Kikumaru-kun by his name but you say that Tezuka-kun and Fuji-kun are actually your best friends." Yagyuu continued.

"Maybe it's just that Tezuka is a really formal person, like you, and Fuji, well, his name is a bit longer than his surname." Oishi joked.

"I've never called Niou by his first name, yet he's my best friend." Yagyuu declared sadly.

"So call him by his first name." Oishi replied. "What is Niou's first name?" realizing that he had forgotten the trickster's first name.

"Masaharu." Yagyuu replied.

"Oh, that's a mouthful." Oishi replied, "Eiji is much easier to say."

"I think his siblings call him Masa." Yagyuu thought.

"Well, that's definitely easier to say." Oishi agreed.

"I never called her by her name either." Yagyuu blurted out.

"Who?"

"Suzuki-kun."

"She's the girl you left behind right?" Oishi confirmed.

"I didn't really leave her behind." Yagyuu sighed, "Because she's always in my heart wherever I go."

-oOo-

"Niou-kun." Mayumi called to the boy sitting beside her.

"Hmn?"

"Ano, can I ask you something?" she shyly asked.

"Nani?"

"Ano, it's about K-Ko—never mind." Mayumi sighed.

"Kobayashi Aoi, she was my best friend from elementary school." Niou replied.

"E? How did you know it was her that I wanted to ask about?"

"I figured, by now, you must have had an encounter with her. She was a year older, and we use to be neighbours, then his father got promoted and they moved out, so we only saw each other in school." Niou continued.

"Sou ka."

"Has she done anything to you?" Niou asked, only to confirm, not telling Mayumi that he had already confronted the girl.

"Iie betsuni, I just, bumped into her the other day and I heard people talking about you and her." Mayumi replied.

"What have you heard?" Niou asked, trying to keep cool and not worry the girl.

"That you use to be really close, but had a falling out." Mayumi replied.

"Is that all?" Niou confirmed feeling the rush in his heartbeat.

"Hmn." Mayumi nodded.

"Don't worry about it." Niou held the girls hand tightly and began to caress her face. "You don't have to worry about anything." Niou assured the girl and moved closer to plant his lips on hers

"_Masa, if I leave, will you wait for me?"_

"_I'll wait for you until eternity ends."_

"_Then can you promise me that you will wait?"_

"_I promise."_

"_Then kiss me."_

Niou opened his eyes and suddenly moved away from Mayumi surprising the girl by how the silverette suddenly pulled away.

"Niou-kun?" Suzuki asked the boy who was sweating and breathing heavily, like he saw a ghost.

"Daijabou desu, I just remembered something that I had to do. Can I take you home now?" Niou asked the girl still trying to recover from the sudden flashback that he had.

"Hmn. I need to finish homework too, so, hai, let's go home." Mayumi agreed to calm the boy, but she had this feeling on uneasiness in her heart from the boy's reaction to the kiss.

-oOo-

"What the heck was that?" Oshitari asked the two came Monday morning.

"What the heck was what?" Oishi asked the bluenette.

"What did you two pull off last Saturday? I went to all the trouble to set you up on dates and you left." Oshitari was being melodramatic again.

"We never asked you to set us up on a date Oshitari-kun." Yagyuu responded.

"That is not the issue, the fact is, that you still left the girls. That is so ungentleman Yagyuu." Oshitari pointed at the other bespectacled boy.

"My sister needed me." Yagyuu replied.

"You had Sunday to help your sister with homework, you didn't have to leave right there and then." Oshitari argued.

"Gomen, for prioritizing my sister over a date that I never even asked for." Yagyuu replied sarcastically.

"Oshitari stop being so theatrical about it, it's not like the girls minded, I think Hirohito-san and Sasaki-san actually understood." Oishi reasoned out.

"Well, Ma-chan didn't." Oshitari bitterly replied.

"Who?" Yagyuu asked in surprise, he always hears Sanada calling Mayumi as Ma-chan and hearing the name once again made his heart beat fast.

"Masaki, the girl I dated." Oshitari replied.

"Well, you were her date not us." Oishi reasoned.

Yagyuu's mind drifted off once again as his two new friends were bickering over last Saturday's date gone wrong.

"_If you stop picking on her, I'll join the tennis club."_

"_Join the tennis club now, and I'll stop picking on her."_

"_Iie, stop picking on her first, then I'll join the tennis team."_

"_Iiyo."_

"_Iiyo."_

"Am I right Yagyuu?" Oishi asked the boy who was daydreaming.

"E?"

"Oshitari is insisting that we go on another date to make up for the first one, and I said it was not a good idea, you agree with me right?"

"I think it would be unwise to do such." Yagyuu agreed.

"See." Oishi said as if he found someone to side with him.

"You're just being silly, how can you forget the girl that you left behind if you won't start dating other girls?" Oshitari commented rather insensitively.

Oishi's jaw dropped, it was like he could feel a murderous aura surrounding Yagyuu at that moment. Yagyuu stared at Oshitari for a long time, and the bluenette stared back just as long. Oishi kept holding his breathe; he was preparing himself to jump in between the two if they start hitting each other.

Yagyuu cleared his throat and stood up.

Oishi's eyes widened, he was so sure that Yagyuu would grab Oshitari's throat or something.

"I never said I wanted to forget her." Yagyuu spoke up before grabbing his bag and walking out of their class.

Oshitari and Oishi followed him with their eyes.

"I pity him." Oshitari commented.

"You weren't the most reassuring friend either." Oishi commented back.

"He needs to move on at some point, I'm just trying to help." Oshitari defended his actions.

"Maybe Yagyuu is one of those persons who doesn't need helping unless they ask for it." Oishi rebutted.

"How would you know?"

"Because my best friend is such a person." Oishi replied.

"Tezuka huh? Sou ka. I'm going to help him move on., even if I have to be the bad guy." Oshitari declared.

"What do you mean?"

"My cousin, Kenya, he had a girl he was inlove with for the longest time. I was not able to help him move on. I'm not going to let Yagyuu go through the same rough patch." Oshitari explained.

"Is that so, demo, you still need to apologize to him." Oishi reprimanded.

"Maybe." Oishitari stubbornly replied.

-oOo-

"How is everything between you and Niou?" Yukimura asked Mayumi as they walked to the library.

"Everything's fine, why do you ask?" the girl replied.

"I hope you're not having any problems with anyone." Yukimura hinted.

Mayumi stopped walking and looked at her cousin, "What have you heard?" she asked with fear in her voice.

"It's your relationship, so I don't interfere, but if Niou hurts you by not protecting you, rest assured Sanada and I will interfere more than what you would have us do." Yukimura firmly stated.

Mayumi managed a chuckle before replying, "Seiichi, you worry too much."

"I worry enough. Especially when no one else worries as much." Yukimura answered.

"What do you mean by that?" Mayumi asked, she knows Yukimura well enough to realize that the boy would never say anything without a firm basis of his statement.

"Just tell me earlier, if you experience any problems." Yukimura poked her nose.

"What are you hiding?" Mayumi asked.

Yukimura smiled, one of his eerie smiles, before replying, "Nothing, don't worry about it."

"You know I worry more when you say that." Mayumi replied feeling the rush in her heartbeat.

"Yukimura." Sanada called.

"Sanada?" Yukimura turned to the other boy.

"Gen-kun." Mayumi also turned to face the boy.

"Is there a problem?" Sanada asked.

"Betsuni, we were just talking." Yukimura lied.

"Hmn, we were just talking about unimportant things." Mayumi lied along.

"You do know that you're both very bad liars." Sanada commented.

"We're not lying." Mayumi added.

Sanada stepped closer and pinched Mayumi's nose.

"Itte!"

"Stop lying." Sanada commented.

"What's going on here?" Niou asked as he appeared from the corner, apparently he had just walked out of the library holding a book in his hand.

"Niou-kun." Mayumi was surprised to see the boy.

"Niou, you came from the library?" Yukimura asked in an investigating tone.

"So what if I did?" Niou answered defensively.

"Never knew you to be a person who stayed in the library." Sanada commented.

"As you both can see, I didn't; I just came to borrow a book." Niou said as he showed the book he had borrowed.

"Can we go home early today Niou-kun, you don't have tennis practice today right?" Mayumi inquired.

"Ah, about that, I can't go home with you today Suzuki, I need to go somewhere important, errand for my Neechan." Niou gave as an excuse.

"Iiyo, you be careful then." Mayumi hesitantly agreed.

"Where exactly do you need to go Niou?" Yukimura butted in.

"Nowhere you need to know, it doesn't involve tennis Yukimura." Niou replied defensively.

"Then maybe Ma-chan can go with you on this errand?" Sanada insisted.

"Ah, iie, daijabou Niou-kun, just please message me when you get home, iiyo?" Mayumi assured the boy.

"Hmn." Niou replied then walked away.

"Niou." Sanada called after the boy.

"Nani?" Niou replied without turning around.

"Gen-kun." Mayumi grabbed at Sanada's wrist.

"We're watching you." Sanada stated.

"Are you a stalker Sanada?" Niou commented with a smirk then continued to walk away.

"Gen-kun, please stop." Mayumi begged.

"We're just watching out for you." Yukimura comforted his cousin.

"Look, I know you know more about Niou-kun than I do, but please, let me trust him." Mayumi bowed then walked away.

"He's up to something." Sanada told Yukimura.

"I know. But what is he up to?" Yukimura replied.

"We need to keep a closer eye on Ma-chan." Sanada replied.

-oOo-

"Kimiko, I told you last night didn't I, Oniisan needs to work late today, we have student council meeting." Yagyuu told his imouto over the phone.

"What are you staring at?" A girl class representative asked Sasaki as she stared at Yagyuu talking on the phone.

"Ah, betsuni." The girl denied.

"You have a crush on Yagyuu-san don't you?" the girl teased.

"Iie." Sasaki denied, but the blush on her face said otherwise.

"Didn't you go out on a group date with him, Oishi-san and Oshitari-san?" the girl asked.

"Iie, ano—." Sasaki tried to deny.

"Hirohito told us herself, but apparently he and Oishi walked out leaving Oshitari to clean up the mess." The girl continued. "Hmn, seems like he's not such a gentleman after all."

"It's not like that." Sasaki defended, "It's just that his imouto called with an important matter that's why he had to leave early."

"You must really like him to be defending him like that even if he walked out on you." The girl commented before leaving Sasaki who went back to staring at Yagyuu with longing eyes.

-oOo-

"_Is it true?"_

"_Nani?"_

"_That you were seen kissing on the rooftop garden with him?"_

"_Who?"_

"_You know who."_

"_Of course not."_

"_You asked if I would wait for you, and I said I would, I hope you're not lying to me."_

"_Why would I lie to you Masa?"_

"_Aoi, I trust you."_

"_Stop worrying about it Masa. These lips are only for you."_

Niou sighed as he opened his eyes and savoured the spring wind blowing on his face. He felt weird standing there, he knew he shouldn't be here, he knew that somewhere out there, Mayumi was walking home alone, well, maybe not alone, maybe with Yukimura, or Sanada, or both of them, but not with him. Such a boyfriend he was, pretty dependable isn't he.

"Shall we go Masa?" a female voice called out to him.

"Hmn." He nodded and followed after the girl.

"What did you tell your girlfriend?" Kobayashi asked.

"That I needed to go somewhere important, an errand for Neechan." Niou replied.

"You're still such a good liar aren't you?" Kobayashi commented with a chuckle.

"I didn't lie." Niou defended.

"Then why did you say that?" Kobayashi turned to face the boy.

"Because this is an errand for Neechan." Niou replied firmly.

"Just an errand for Matsuko-neesan? Really?" Kobayashi stepped a little closer.

"I am just going with you to visit Akiko-niisan's grave because he was my neechan's boyfriend. I am going there to light incense, not to spend time with you." Niou replied.

Kobayashi chuckled at the boy's facial reaction to her teasing, "I should thank my stupid brother then."

"Don't call your niisan stupid." Niou reprimanded the girl.

"He died in a stupid accident didn't he? Leaving Matsuko-neesan behind, pushing both our families into despair." Kobayashi continued.

Niou was getting frustrated and grabbed the girl by the wrist, twisting it a little and slamming her into a nearby wall, "What happened to you?"

Kobayashi stared at the boy who was so forceful, "You left me behind."

"I never left you." Niou replied.

"Then why you are with her and not with me?" Kobayashi asked.

"You left me Aoi, I never left you." Niou replied before letting go of the girl and walking on ahead.

"You called me Aoi, it's been a while since you last called me by name." Kobayashi continued to tease.

"I never stopped calling you by name." Niou replied without slowing down.

"But it's been a while since I last heard you say my name." Kobayashi continued.

"I just stopped calling you, that's all." Niou replied.

"Can't we start all over Masaharu?" Kobayashi asked in despair.

Niou stopped in his step.

Kobayashi smiled a little, she knew she hit a nerve.

"Kobayashi—."

"Why the sudden name change?" the girl asked in a disappointed tone.

"I'm with Suzuki, and I love her, I almost lost my best friend fighting for her." Niou explained.

"So I've heard, Yagyuu right? The gentleman from Rikkai Middle School. He's kawaii." Kobayashi teased.

"You ask to start over with me, then you comment about another guy being kawaii. How very convincing." Niou commented.

"So, you do want to start over with me?" Kobayashi teased.

"Iie." Niou replied firmly.

"Then maybe I can just go after Yagyuu then?" Kobayashi provoked.

"He doesn't like girls like you."

"What kind of girls does he like then? Boring, lifeless, wall flowers like your girlfriend?" Kobayashi continued to insult Mayumi.

"Stop insulting my girlfriend."

"Maybe if you got back with me I would stop insulting her." Kobayashi threatened.

"Don't you have a boyfriend?"

"I have a boy toy, I've always considered you my boyfriend Masaharu." Kobayashi leaned over almost brushing her lips against Niou's

"My girlfriend's name is Suzuki Mayumi, try and remember that Aoi." Niou stepped back.

"We'll see." Kobayashi threatened.

-oOo-

Yagyuu was walking home from the train station when he stopped at a shop's widow after seeing an interesting pair of tennis shoes on display. He was examining the shoe when he noticed a familiar reflection on the shop's glass window walking by. "Suzuki-kun?" Yagyuu turned his head to find the girl walking alone carrying a large paper bag with her school bag on her shoulder. "Suzuki-kun." He called out, feeling the rush of happiness in his heart at the sight of the girl.

Mayumi turned to the voice's direction, she couldn't resist the smile forming on her lips at the sight of the boy. "Yagyuu-kun, long time." She greeted.

For the longest time, only now, did Yagyuu smiled genuinely again. "Domo."

"Domo. How have you been?" Mayumi excitedly inquired.

"I've been well, I've adjusted well to my new school. And you?" Yagyuu happily exchanged stories with the girl.

"I've been doing well too, did you join the tennis club in your new school?"

"Iie, I didn't, I'm the class representative though." Yagyuu explained.

"I would have expected as much, I wouldn't be surprised if you eventually become the council president." Mayumi stated.

"Let me help you carry that." Yagyuu offered and took the paper bag from the girl, "What's all these?"

"Just some stuffs that I need for a school project. I bought two of each, I figured, Niou-kun must have forgotten about it and will probably end up buying those stuffs at the last minute, so I bought some for him too." Mayumi cheerfully explained.

"Sou ka, still the old forgetful Niou-kun about school work I see. How is he?" Yagyuu asked, a bit of disappointment in his voice.

"His been doing well, he almost made it to regular, he lost by a point I think. Marui-kun and Seiichi are my classmates." The girl continued to tell the boy.

"Have you heard any news about Kirihara-kun?" Yagyuu inquired to change the topic off Niou.

"Hmn, they say he's doing fairly well as a buchou, although I think he's having problems with his fukubuchou, apparently he's not as reliable as Gen-kun." Mayumi told the boy.

"I don't think anyone is as reliable as Sanada-kun." Yagyuu commented.

"You're probably right." Mayumi laughed.

Yagyuu began laughing as well, it's been a while since he laughed like this.

Mayumi tried to catch her breath before speaking, "It's really nice to see you again Yagyuu-kun."

Yagyuu's smile disappeared, "It's good to see you too Suzuki-kun, really good to see you."

Mayumi nodded, "Eto, this is my stop, I hope to see you again soon Yagyuu-kun."

"Hmn." Yagyuu nodded as he gave back the paper bag to the girl as she stepped into the bus.

"Arigato, ja ne, Yagyuu-kun, please be careful going home." Mayumi smiled as the bus door closed.

"Ja ne." Yagyuu waved back, then sighed realizing he missed the girl too much, it was wrong because she was Niou's girl, but he missed her way to much to lie to himself that his heart still belonged to the purple haired girl that he first met in Middle School.

**-oOo-**

**There, sorry for the late update, I'll try to update Hana as well; I keep lacking the inspiration to finish the chapter that I've started for that fic.**


	4. My Best Friend

**Chapter 4: My Best Friend**

**Standard Disclaimer Applies**

**-oOo-**

Oishi could swear that Yagyuu had no fingers left on his right hand. The former Seigaku mother hen had been staring at the former Rikkai gentleman for quite a while as the boy was biting on his fingers since a while back, as he seemed to be drifting off to some other planet that Oishi could not figure out where.

"Yagyuu." He finally called out.

Yagyuu just stared at thin air biting on his fingers.

"Yagyuu." Oishi patted the boy's arm.

Still pretty much dazed.

"What are you doing?" Oshitari asked the egghead as he walked over carrying a bunch of boxes.

"I think Yagyuu died with his eyes open." Oishi replied.

"Nani?" Oshitari placed the boxes on the nearby desk and stared at the boy. "He seems to still be breathing." He waved his hand in front of Yagyuu's face. "How long has he been that way?"

"About an hour or so." Oishi replied.

"Yagyuu!" Oshitari screamed at the boy's ear.

"Itte! What's wrong with you Oshitari-kun?" Yagyuu finally responded, covering the ear that Oshitari screamed at.

"Told you he was still breathing." Oshitari told Oishi before picking up the boxes he had placed on the desk.

"You've been staring at thin air for almost an hour, and I could swear you had no fingers left, you've been biting on them the whole time." Oishi explained.

"Gomen, I was just thinking about something." Yagyuu explained back.

"What was it that you were thinking of that you drifted off for an hour biting on your fingers?" Oshitari asked as he took out the materials from the box he was carrying.

"I was thinking about Niou-kun." Yagyuu replied rubbing his fingers on his pants, it was only then that he felt the pain from all the biting that he had been doing on them.

"What about Niou?" Oishi asked.

"He texted me yesterday, he wants to play tennis over the weekend." Yagyuu replied.

"So go play tennis." Oshitari commented.

"I can't." Yagyuu argued.

"Nande?" Oishi asked.

"I saw Suzuki-kun the other day coming home from school." Yagyuu answered.

"And?" Oshitari questioned.

"What do you mean 'and'?" Yagyuu asked back.

"So, you saw your best friend's girlfriend going home from school the other day, and?" Oshitari questioned more.

"And what? Nothing." Yagyuu argued.

"So why can't you go meet your best friend for tennis on the weekend?" Oshitari argued back.

"Because." Yagyuu replied.

"You realized you're still head-over-heals in-love with her?" Oishi blurted out what Yagyuu couldn't admit.

Yagyuu gave out a frustrated sigh.

"Don't you think it would be unfair for Niou if you harbour these feelings for his girlfriend, then reject his invite?" Oishi asked the boy.

"I know, demo, I just don't know how to face Niou-kun, it's been a while since I last saw him after all." Yagyuu explained.

"All the more that you should go." Oshitari added.

"What if Niou-kun brings up Suzuki-kun? I can't talk about her with him. At least not yet." Yagyuu argued.

"Then change the topic." Oshitari advised.

"Besides Yagyuu, I don't think Niou would bring her up, I'm sure he still knows you're still hurting about her choosing him." Oishi comforted the boy.

"I suppose you're right." Yagyuu agreed.

"By the way, Oshitari, what are those?" Oishi asked as the bluenette tensai continued to pull out stuffs from the box.

"Props for the upcoming festival, our class was assigned the Asian Café." Oshitari replied.

"What festival?" Yagyuu and Oishi asked together.

"You two were not listening to sensei this morning weren't you?" Oshitari gave the two a frustrated look.

"We were, we just don't remember anything about a festival, all the more our class being assigned the Asian Café." Oishi answered.

"The council meeting never mentioned anything about an upcoming festival." Yagyuu protested.

"Look again Mr. Class Representative." Oshitari tapped his finger on the desk.

Yagyuu looked through his notes from the previous meeting and to his disappointment, at the last entry of the minutes of the meeting in bold letters was something about an upcoming festival.

"You remember now?" Oshitari asked the boy.

Yagyuu rubbed his temple, how could he have let this slip through him.

"You must have been day dreaming or something when you discussed this." Oshitari commented.

Yagyuu sighed in defeat.

"Sa, nothing to worry about, I've already discussed everything with sensei and I have planned out everything for this festival." Oshitari assured the gentleman.

Oishi and Yagyuu looked at each other, because somehow, Oshitari planning everything gave them something more to worry about.

-oOo-

Kobayashi was hanging around the rooftop watching the tennis club practice that afternoon, watching Niou in actuality, when she heard footsteps.

"What do you want?" she asked without even looking at who came.

"Kobayashi-senpai, can we talk?" a strong firm voice asked.

Kobayashi smirked, she knew that voice, she could never forget that voice. "What do you want Sanada? Shouldn't you be in practice?"

"I asked the buchou's permission to leave for a while." Sanada responded.

"What about Yukimura, does he know that you came here?" Kobayashi asked menacing.

"Yukimura does not need to know." Sanada replied.

Kobayashi's smile widened and turned towards the emperor, "Hontou? I thought you always run everything by Yukimura?" she teased.

Sanada frowned, "I came here on my own will and decision, Seiichi does not need to know."

Kobayashi gave a naughty smile, "So forceful Sanada-kun, when did you ever step out of Yukimura's shadow? Since when did you grow a pair of your own?" she provoked.

Sanada's eyes narrowed, this was going nowhere, "Kobayashi-senpai."

"Nani?"

"Please stay away from Mayumi."

"Who?"

Sanada did not reply, instead stared at the girl.

"Oh, you mean the wall flower that Niou has for a girlfriend." Kobayashi realized, "Nande? Are you friends or something?"

"She's a good friend." Sanada replied firmly.

"She your ex-girlfriend or something?"

"She's Seiichi's cousin."

"So I've heard, which makes her what to you exactly?" Kobayashi interrogated.

"Don't make me repeat myself senpai." Sanada answered unmoved.

"Should I be scared of you Sanada-kun? Are you threatening me?" Kobayashi stepped closer to the boy.

Sanada did not respond, he just stood there steadfastly.

"Sanada-kun," Kobayashi whispered in Sanada's ear, well, as close as she could get to his ear, being that Sanada was a lot taller than her, "You do know that I have the capability to steal your tennis from you?"

Sanada's eyes narrowed.

"I heard you went through rehab for your knee, the match against Tezuka-kun hurt you badly didn't it? Do you want to injure your knees permanently?" Kobayashi threatened some more.

Sanada turned his head towards the girl.

"Scared?" Kobayashi smirked, "The next time you want to tell me to do something, maybe you should think a thousand times first Sanada-kun." She gave as a final threat before walking away.

"I can give up my tennis, if that's what it will take for you to lay off Ma-chan." Sanada answered the threat.

Kobayashi grinned, but didn't turn around, "I would have expected those words to come out of Masaharu's lips, not yours Sanada-kun. Maybe, it's not just Yagyuu-kun who competes for this wall flower's heart, ne?" Kobayashi turned the knob and stepped out leaving Sanada alone in the rooftop.

-oOo-

Niou held Mayumi's hand tightly, so tight it almost hurt the girl.

"Ano, Niou-kun."

"Nande?"

"Is something wrong?" Mayumi asked, trying hard to not let the boy notice that he was hurting her hand.

"Iie, betsuni, nande?"

"Iie, you just seem a bit worried." Mayumi lied.

"Nothing worries me, when I'm with you." Niou let go of the girl's hand and instead wrapped his arms on her shoulder.

"Hmn." Mayumi nodded, but she knew something was wrong.

"Ne, Suzuki, I invited Yagyuu for tennis during the weekend." Niou blurted out.

"Oh? Hontou? And what did he say?"

"He hasn't answered my text yet, do you think I should call him?"

Mayumi thought a while before answering, "Maybe he's busy with school work, he is attending a Science High School Niou-kun."

"Sa, I guess you're right." Niou gave in, at that moment Niou's phone alarmed, he quickly turned off the alarm and returned his phone in his pocket.

"What was the alarm for?" Mayumi asked the boy.

"Nothing important." Niou responded, obviously trying to cover up for something.

Mayumi stared at her boyfriend and tried hard to convince herself that he was not hiding something from her.

"Why are you staring?" Niou asked without looking at the girl, he could feel the weight of her eyes despite looking forward to where they were heading.

"Niou-kun, do you love me?" Mayumi blurted out.

Niou stopped walking, he felt his heart beginning to beat faster, the question was easy to answer, it was a simple yes or no question, yet, he felt like he was being presented with a complicated algebra problem that he couldn't figure out.

"Do you love me, Niou-kun?" the girl repeated.

"Why do you ask?" Niou answered back instead.

"That is a question as well." Mayumi firmly replied.

Niou stared back at the girl, he was searching for something in her eyes, Niou counted to a hundred as he stared into the girl's eyes before opening his lips, "More than anything in this world."

Mayumi neither smiled nor frowned, instead she remained expressionless, something that one would expect from Sanada, but not Mayumi.

"You don't look convinced." Niou told the girl.

"You hesitated."

"I did not." Niou argued.

Mayumi said nothing, she also turned her head away and began walking again, leaving the silverette standing there.

"Oi! Suzuki." Niou called after the girl before running after her, but instead of slowing down the girl's step became faster, faster and faster until Niou began to realize that Mayumi was running away from him. "Oi! Where are you going?" Niou asked as he ran after the girl. Niou could swear, he was either out of practice or his girlfriend was running really fast because no matter how he lifted his legs he couldn't catch up with her. "Suzuki!" Niou screamed as he panted for air watching as the girl ran further away from him. "Chotto matte!"

Mayumi kept running, how fast she ran she could not feel, all she knew was that she needed to be alone, she needed to get away from Niou. Her legs brought her to a familiar place, somewhere she didn't even intended to go to, yet somehow, it was like destiny brought her there.

"Suzuki-senpai?" a familiar voice called out.

Mayumi lifted her head as she was still panting from all the running. "Kirihara-kun."

"Daijabou desu ka senpai? Why are you panting?" Akaya walked over to where the girl was leaning on the wall.

"Hai, daijabou desu, just trying to catch my breath." Mayumi replied to not worry the boy.

"What are you doing here senpai?" the Rikkai Ace asked.

"Honestly, I don't know, it's like my feet just brought me here." Mayumi replied.

Akaya looked so confused with what his senpai said he couldn't hide it.

"Gomen Kirihara-kun, I just needed to be alone for a while and my feet just brought me here as I ran." Mayumi tried to explain.

"Nande?"

"I just need to think things over." Mayumi replied.

"Things like?" Akaya inquired further.

"Kirihara-kun, do you have a girlfriend?" Mayumi suddenly asked the boy.

"E?" Akaya's face turned beet red.

"Gomen, that was inappropriate, ja ne Kirihara-kun, I guess I'll just go home for now." Mayumi turned and began walking away.

"Matte senpai." Akaya instinctively grabbed the girls arm.

Mayumi turned surprised at the boy's action.

Kirihara kept hold on the girl's arm and stared at the girl's face.

"Nani?"

"Ano, senpai, do you want to go get some ice cream or a milk shake?" Akaya asked.

"E?" Mayumi blinked a few times trying to process what her kohai was asking her.

"Do you want to go with me to get ice cream or milk shake or something, anything." Akaya replied looking straight at the girl's face.

Mayumi thought a few seconds before answering. "Is this a date?"

Akaya's eyes widened and his face turned so red it would definitely beat a red fire truck, he let go of the girl's arm and began bowing profusely, "Iie, gomen, senpai, I didn't mean for it to sound that way."

Mayumi chuckled at the boy's reaction, "Daijabou Kirihara-kun, I was just kidding. I would love to."

"E? Hontouni?"

"Hmn."

"It has to be my treat though senpai." Akaya insisted.

"Then, it is a date." Mayumi teased.

"E? Niou-senpai is going to kill me." Akaya scratched his head.

"Iiyo Kirihara-kun, I won't tell Niou-kun that we went out on a date." Mayumi teased some more.

"E? Senpai."

Mayumi could feel her stomach hurting from laughing at the boy, "Daijabou, daijabou, I know you just wanted to help."

"Exactly."

"So, where are we off to?" Mayumi suddenly felt light-hearted and for a moment forgot what had just happened between her and Niou.

"Anywhere you would want to go senpai." Akaya shyly replied.

"Let's go get ice cream."

"Ice cream it is then." Akaya agreed.

-oOo-

Yagyuu was trying hard not to die of laughter, or rather, trying hard not to die from holding back his laughter at the epic sight before him.

"Is everyone dressed?" Oshitari asked as he entered their classroom in a rather flashy suit.

"What is that supposed to be?" Oishi asked is extreme objection to what Oshitari was wearing compared to what he was.

At this point Yagyuu could not hold back his laughter any longer and began crying while laughing.

"What are you laughing at?" Oishi asked the now very much oxygen deprived Yagyuu.

"Ha- ha- have y-you s-se-seen your se-self Oishi-kun?" Yagyuu asked trying to catch his breath.

"I have, and that is exactly the reason why," Oishi then turned to Oshitari, "explain this to me." Oishi pointed at what Oshitari was wearing.

"This is a kimono." Oshitari replied, still not getting the point.

"I can see that." Oishi replied sarcastically.

"Then why did you ask?" Oshitari rebutted.

"And what do you call this?" Oishi now pointing at his costume.

Yagyuu who was half-dead from laughing wanted to say something but was not able to.

"Open your mouth and I am going to force you into this costume Yagyuu." Oishi threatened the ginger head.

"What is so bad about your costume?" Oshitari asked the former Seigaku mother hen.

"Are you kidding me? Look at me!" Oishi demanded.

"I am looking at you." Oshitari replied.

Oishi could feel the veins on his head popping, he very well understood how Tezuka felt back in middle school whenever the team was throwing a temper tantrum every now and then.

"Oishi-kun, please relax." Yagyuu tried to calm the very agitated half of the golden pair.

"If I see even one teeth exposed from those lips of yours Yagyuu, I swear I will force you to wear this instead of that." Oishi threatened.

"Ma, ma, what happened to the gentle fukubuchou from Seigaku?" Oshitari mocked the egghead who was almost blowing his head off.

"He got overly exposed." Yagyuu answered in Oishi's behalf.

"What's wrong with your costume? We were assigned the Asian Café so we have to be in the different costumes of the countries in Asia." Oshitari explained.

"And it was decided that you get to wear our national costume then?" Oishi asked as he tried to breathe a little slower.

"I was the one who planned everything wasn't I?" Oshitari reasoned out.

Yagyuu and Oishi stared at each other with a knowing look.

"Nani?" Oshitari asked.

"We should've known." Yagyuu replied.

"Iiyo, I get that you get to represent Japan, and Yagyuu here is Malaysian, and some of the other guys in the class are from different Asian countries, so which country did you get this costume exactly?" Oishi finally asked.

"The truth about this Oishi, is that there were more boys than girl in our class so I kind of ran out of a country for you." Oshitari explained.

"Look at me Oshitari, I'm practically naked." Oishi pointed at the piece of uncomfortable cloth that was covering, well, trying to cover his body, no scrap that, a quarter of his body.

"That is actually a costume from a tribe in one of the South East Asian countries." Oshitari explained.

"And it had to be me who will wear it?" Oishi irrately asked.

"Daijabou Oishi-kun, you'll be behind the counter so people won't notice what you're wearing." Yagyuu tried to assure him.

"I'll be behind the counter Yagyuu, that's exactly the point, and from the other side of the counter," Oishi walks over so that he was now standing behind the counter, "What do you see Yagyuu?"

Yagyuu bit his lips and tried not to laugh, because from his end of the counter, Oishi looked like he was not wearing anything at all.

"Exactly the point!" Oishi pointed out noting how Yagyuu was trying not to laugh.

The girls in their class were all blushing as they were watching Oishi point out to Oshitari his dilemma about his costume for the café.

"So would you rather walk around and be the waiter wearing that?" Oshitari asked insensitively.

"Wearing only that." Yagyuu emphasized.

Oishi thought for a moment, "I think I'll just stay behind the counter instead."

-oOo-

"What did you do?" Sanada asked as he pushed Niou against the wall.

"Sanada." Yukimura grabbed his best friend's arm as the other was about ready to punch the trickster.

"I know you did something Niou, answer me!" Sanada demanded.

"Oi, cool down a bit Sanada." Marui stepped in between the two.

"Violence won't solve anything." Yanagi reasoned as he too grabbed Sanada to help Yukimura restrain him.

"Shut up." Niou responded under his breathe and was about ready to punch back Sanada had Jackal not grabbed his hand.

"Niou!" the half Brazilian and the serve-and-volley player pinned him to the wall and Yukimura and Yanagi dragged Sanada away.

"Enough already!" Yukimura screamed. "The locker room is not a place to fight, and violence won't solve anything."

"Tell that to your best friend." Niou retorted.

"I warned you before Niou, hurt her and I hurt you." Sanada angrily replied.

"I said enough!" Yukimura shouted.

"What's going on in here?" their buchou asked after hearing all the ruckus in the clubroom.

"Betsuni, just a little misunderstanding." Yukimura replied in behalf of everyone.

"Your little misunderstanding can be settled in the grounds, all of you, 50 laps each." Their buchou replied.

-oOo-

Yagyuu held his tennis bag close to his body as he stood outside a private tennis club waiting for his best friend to arrive, it was just typical of the silverette to come late for a meeting and Yagyuu was quite used to it already. He kept running a few lines in his head as to how he would respond to Niou, it was the first time that they were going to see each other since they graduated from middle school, and the incidental meet up with Mayumi a few days back was not helping him move on.

"Yo! Yaaaaaagyuu." The silverette greeted.

Yagyuu smiled inwardly, it's a while since anyone pronounced his name in such a manner. "Konnichiwa Niou-kun, genki desu ka?"

"Never better." Niou replied.

Silence enveloped the two, they just stood there speechless, until Niou decided to break the silence, "Shall we go rally then?"

"You might be disappointed though, this is the first time I'm going to hold a racket since the last game we played in middle school." Yagyuu replied.

"Ma, knowing you, you'll easily oil up that rusted gear of yours." Niou patted the boy on the shoulder.

After a few rallies and both boys were too tired to rally any more they sat at a nearby bench, each wiping their own sweat and drinking from their water bottle, not much was being said since they started, it was like they were both avoiding a topic of discussion.

"How's your new school?" Niou asked as he adjusted the strings on his racket.

"It's good, we just finished a festival, our class was assigned the Asian Café." Yagyuu shared with his best friend.

"Sou ka, and you've found new friends there as well." Niou said a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"Aa, I usually hang around with Oishi-kun from Seigaku and Oshitari-kun from Hyotei." Yagyuu replied

"Hontou? You guys get along?" Niou asked in disbelief.

"Hai, they're actually both nice people, especially Oishi-kun." Yagyuu explained.

"So you've found yourself a new best friend." Niou joked.

"Of course I still consider you as my best friend NIou-kun." Yagyuu said with a straight face.

Niou smirked from the comment, "Aa, same here."

Both boys sighed, an unavoidable topic was yet to be brought up and neither of them wanted to say anything about it.

"How's the tennis club?" Yagyuu asked to start a new conversation.

"The tennis club or just the guys?" Niou clarified.

"The guys, it's not like I'm familiar with the rest of the tennis club now." Yagyuu replied.

"They're all good, except Sanada." Niou replied bitterly.

"E? Nande?"

"His still being nosey like his old self." Niou half complained.

"Well, he's just concern about everyone's welfare." Yagyuu reasoned out.

"Whatever, he's too nosey." Niou argued throwing his face towel into his bag.

"Did you two have a falling out?" Yagyuu asked noticing the irritated look on Niou's face.

"He should keep his nose out of other people's business." Niou continued.

"Niou-kun, what happened?" Yagyuu asked in all seriousness.

"Iie, betsuni." Niou responded.

Yagyuu stared at the boy, waiting for his next words, because he knew Niou too well, so mentally he counted backwards from ten and just as he was about to reach one—

"Suzuki's not talking to me." Niou blurted out.

"Sou ka."

"And Sanada's being a pain about it." Niou continued.

"What happened exactly Niou-kun?" Yagyuu inquired.

"I don't even know exactly." Niou admitted.

"How can you not know?"

"One minute she was asking me if I loved her, the next minute she was running away from me." Niou explained.

"Well, I guess the explanation to that would pretty much be because of what you replied to her question." Yagyuu explained, "What did you reply anyway?"

"That I loved her more than anything in this world."

"That's not such a bad answer." Yagyuu said surprised.

"I know right." Niou sighed.

"Then what could have pushed Suzuki-kun to get mad at you?" Yagyuu began to think.

Niou sighed another.

"What else did you do Niou-kun?" Yagyuu asked noting how Niou was uneasy.

"Nani? Does it always have to be my fault? Can't it be hers this time around?" Niou reasoned.

"Niou-kun, despite the fact that it is not impossible that it could be Suzuki-kun's fault this time around, the odds still favour that it's yours." Yagyuu explained.

"Arigato for that very encouraging comment Yagyuu." Niou replied sarcastically.

"I never meant for any insult Niou-kun, it's just that in most cases it's the guys fault." Yagyuu defended.

"This coming from a guy, seriously? What do you have against your fellow men?" Niou asked melodramatically.

"Betsuni." Yagyuu stood up and grabbed his tennis bag, "Maybe we should talk about this some other time Niou-kun, it's been great seeing you again, and honestly, it was fun holding a racket again." Yagyuu held out his hand to the other boy.

Niou stared at Yagyuu's out stretched hand before standing up, accepting the hand shake, then pulling his best friend into a brotherly hug, "Arigato for seeing me today Yagyuu, seriously, I wish we still go to the same school every single day." Niou said before letting go of his best friend.

Yagyuu felt warm, knowing his best friend still needed him in his life despite their debacle in middle school over a girl. "Let's do this again sometime Niou-kun."

"Aa."

"Send my regards to everyone." Yagyuu said as he began walking away.

"Including Suzuki?" Niou asked the boy.

The name sent electricity to run in Yagyuu's spine, Yagyuu stopped in his steps and turned to face Niou, "Hai, including Suzuki-kun."

"Iiyo." Niou smirked then turned to walk away as well.

Yagyuu continued his walk feeling heaviness in his heart, he knew the Suzuki Mayumi that he saw the other day was no longer the same cheerful girl today, not when she and Niou were having problems. Yagyuu sighed once again, because even when he knew just how to comfort her, he also knew he was not in the right place to do such. So for now, all he could do was wish her well, and hope that she and Niou get reconciled—soon.

**-oOo-**

**So it's a rather long chapter, to compensate for the long time that I was not able to update this fiction.**


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